How Ford Works

Fusion's CD3 platform was the starting point for Ford's first mid-size crossover SUV, the 2007 Edge. Though Dearborn was slow to enter this new fast-growing segment, the Edge itself was well-timed, arriving just behind a larger, redesigned Toyota RAV4 and ahead of a new-generation Honda CR-V.

Edge faced those class favorites with bold styling on a 111.2-inch wheelbase, making it larger than the Japanese-brand duo and close in size to the Chevrolet Equinox and Pontiac Torrent.

Being late to game allowed Ford to learn the rules for winning it, so the Edge offered most everything competitors did and a few things they didn't. Prime among the latter was an Advance Trac antiskid system with Roll Stability Control, available with either front-wheel drive or full-time all-wheel drive. Volvo had developed RSC for its XC90 SUV, and Ford fast adopted it for the truck-based Explorer and Expedition.

Basically, RSC employed various sensors that monitored vehicle attitude and would automatically activate the stability system to prevent a tip -- within the laws of physics, of course. This was a definite sales asset, especially for Ford after the Explorer rollover debacle.

Like other Dearborn SUVs, car- and truck-based alike, the Edge also offered optional front torso side airbags and curtain side airbags -- what Ford called a "Safety Canopy. " Ford also mined Volvo's deep experience with safety design to design a unibody structure that was tight, strong, and solid. Antilock four-wheel disc brakes were standard.

Edge debuted with a single powerteam comprising Ford's new 250-bhp 3.5-liter V-6 and a six-speed automatic transmission. Interestingly, that gearbox was designed and built in conjunction with GM.

Things really were tough in Detroit. Ford also hoped to gain a competitive, er, edge with a versatile five-passenger seating package, a center console big enough for a laptop computer, and "lifestyle" options such as a plug-in for digital music players, rear-seat DVD, and satellite radio.

Still another class exclusive was a full-length, twin-panel "Vista Roof" with tilt/sliding forward section measuring 2x2.5 feet. With all this and more, the Edge seemed another hopeful sign that Dearborn would eventually find its "Way Forward."